CV Writing Tips: How To Deal With Unemployment Gaps

Being unemployed is tough and accounting for those spells out of work is even tougher. Moreover, extended periods of unemployment make the situation even harder for one to land a new job.

As David Muriithi, HR Manager Transport and Lifting Limited points out, “Over six months of unaccounted for time in your CV is a matter of concern. It might not be a very big deal if it happens within a year but if that transcends to another year, it raises a lot of questions,” he says. Interestingly, his views happen to be a shared worldwide concern.

Last year in an attempt to get to the bottom of this phenomenon, Rand Ghayad, a PhD Economics student at the Northeastern University in the United States sent out 4,800 computer-generated CVs to random companies. They were all identical in terms of credentials and working experience—only that some had unemployment durations of more than six months while some had less.

Mr. Ghayad discovered that applications with more than six months out of unemployment were hardly contacted by employers. His conclusion: employers were basically screening out workers with long-term unemployment (www.randghayad.com).  This might not be the exact scenario here but it couldn’t be far-fetched either. The bottom line, it seems, the more you stay out of employment, the less likely you are to get another job no matter your working experience.

Sample IT CVWell, you have been out of work for a long time, how then do you beat this jinx? June Njoroge, career advisor with Corporate Staffing Services sheds light on how to seal these gaps. “One of the best reasons that can account for these gaps might be taking a course as a means of advancing your career. This will suggest that you are a serious person who was doing something to sharpen your skills,” she says.

“Another reason that people account for gaps in their CVs is taking a career break. The main point here is; there shouldn’t be any gaps in the resume at all. Other people prefer to state they were out running private businesses,” continues Ms Njoroge, “but the downside of this argument is that you may be viewed by the prospective employer that you are basically looking for capital to go back to your business.”  The best way to get over this if asked, she suggests, is to state you have delegated the running of your enterprises to other people. Here, in Ms Njoroge’s opinion, you will be avoiding being penalised for conflict of interest.

“You must strive to prove in your CV that you are never an idle person,” rejoins Mr. Muriithi. “Even if you weren’t engaged in big things like contracts when you were out of employment, you must have engaged in minor activities and opportunities that opened up your mind to greater ides—list them. You have to come out as someone who is good material. Being on maternity breaks or raising a family as an explanation might work for women as it is a norm but that is a fairly personal concern.”

Mr. Muriithi states that for most employers, stating you were in jail to account for gaps in your CV are a complete turn-off, except in the rarest of circumstances. “In a nutshell,” he says, “as one prepares a comprehensive CV, he should put himself in the shoes of the employer to get a better overview. If you insist on thinking as an employee regarding your CV then you will only be doing yourself an injustice, let another person help you go through the CV.”

The best way to plug the gaps in your CV, Mr. Muriithi says, is getting a mature person, possibly a businessman, to evaluate your CV and raise questions about it. “That way, he will be able to point out periods of time that need to be accounted for from the employer’s perspective and you will be able to come out with a stronger CV and a better overview of your employment record.”